Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Babet, for the question. I've obviously been asked questions about forestry on a number of occasions by representatives of the Greens, but I welcome questions from other senators on this topic as well.

Senator Babet, the question that you asked goes to what I've said before when I've been asked about this issue, which is that the Albanese government supports a sustainable forestry industry, we support the committees that rely on that industry, and the reality is that the calls from some to eliminate native forestry on a very short timetable would leave us open to exactly the problems that you're talking about. We are in a point in Australia where about 87 per cent of our timber and wood needs are met by plantation timber, and that number seems to be growing, so there are more and more uses for plantation timber. But the reality is that, as things currently stand, we do rely on Australian native forestry to produce a number of products, including some of the home furnishings and other high-grade products that you're talking about, Senator Babet. If we were to follow the calls of some to eliminate that industry very quickly, that would leave us open to the need for imports from other countries which do have, in general, lower environmental standards than Australia.

So what we want to do as the federal government is work with the states and territories, with industries and with the community to ensure that we can meet our forestry and timber needs. That's exactly why, heading into the election, we made around $300 million of commitments to expand the forestry industry, modernise it, improve its efficiency, improve the skill base of its workers and actually plant more plantations. That's what we want to do: to develop that sustainable forestry industry that all Australians rely on, not to mention the regional committees in particular that depend upon it for their livelihoods and their local economies.